Cesare

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“In the entire world there are only a few sounds that bring joy to all but the most jaded. One is the murmur of a kitten purring. Another is the thwack of a well-pitched baseball hitting a perfectly swung bat. And the third is the pop of a cork being pulled from a bottle of wine.” —George Taber

MarkDaSpark

Cheron98 has kindly put all information about the Labrat program at the beginning of the Labrat Thread (where she kindly and graciously cross-posts all the labrat posts into one convenient place).

She has the rules of "rattery" there. As well as a listing of the labrats and offers from June 2 of last year (2008).

In essence, you sign up for the labrat program, which makes you eligible to receive an additional bottle from the current offer (via FedEx overnight) if:

a) You purchase the current offer before the deadline (usually 10 am CT, first day of the offer).

There are no set guidelines other than doing your best to present your opinions about the labrat bottle in a timely manner (since there may be some people on the fence about the current offer, and are waiting for your opinions). You can be as creative (or not) as you want. Read thru some of the previous labrats to get an idea. There are a lot of humorous reports, as well as serious ones.

DeLong Wine has been on Wine.Woot before with their Varietal Chart and Tasting Books, and sponsors The Century Club for those who have tasted over 100 different varietals (and we have several Wine.Wooters as members, with others on the verge). Check out Century Club thread in the World of Woot Wine for more info.

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

PetiteSirah

Question 3-5 for the winemaker:
What is the pH of each wine?
How would you describe the tannin structure of each?
Building on the last 2 questions, what would you say is the ideal drinking/aging window for each wine?

MarkDaSpark

I notice that the 2006 CS has Petit Verdot in it, along with Cab Franc, while the 2005 CS has only Merlot.

What are the main differences we should expect from them, and how long can they be cellared? (may end up ordering another set.)

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

WhereAmI2

I turned 21 literally 20 minutes ago and wanted to buy this Wine, but I cannot select my state for a shipping address, which is Wisconsin. The main FAQ says Wisconsin is a valid state. Does anyone have documentation that I missed or was I just blind when I was trying to select Wisconsin for shipping?

Casey7Hills

PetiteSirah wrote:Question 2 for the winemaker:
Very glad to see that these are both under 14% alcohol -- is that entirely natural or was there any dealc involved?

We don't do de-alc, we're pretty traditional. Lower alcs are achieved with a picking a bit earlier. Also, our daily temps tend to taper off to the cooler side up here in Washington towards the end of September. Slows down the brix accumulation and allows more hang time.

annsalisbury

nallie

Buyers are limited to just one set per account? Must be a relatively small quantity available.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." - h.keller
"If you can do something about it, there is no need to worry. If you cannot do anything about it, there is no use in worrying." - j.white (and also Shantideva)

Casey7Hills

MarkDaSpark wrote:I notice that the 2006 CS has Petit Verdot in it, along with Cab Franc, while the 2005 CS has only Merlot.

What are the main differences we should expect from them, and how long can they be cellared? (may end up ordering another set.)

The 2005 Klipsun is from a site that produces some of the most highly-structured Cabs from Washington State. I've made Cab from the same vines for 20 years now, and these Cabs can age beautifully for AT LEAST 15 years. The Merlot is in there just to soften and round it out. The wine is just now entering the phase where it shows more.

The 2006 Columbia Valley is styled to drink younger, but we do full-on small barrel aging, and these are all hand-picked grapes also. Its got a beautiful berry perfume, and some little nuances from the blending varietals that you don't see from straight Cab. Typically I say drink within 5 years of the vintage on these. Much less tannic than the Klipsun.

Casey7Hills

The vineyards, blends and oak regimes are very different between the two vintages. What's the motivation for the big differences?

The primary motivation is show the personality of one site with the Klipsun, a great Cab site on Red Mountain. We committed to making a vineyard-designated wine from Klipsun in the early 90's, and have a great set vertical vintages at this point. Its, ageable, powerful, and has a distinct character. And I use the French Oak 100% on this one because it needs that refined, elegant oak to help balance it.

The Columbia Valley Cab is blended from a handful of different vineyards, and really is a "regional" expression of Cab from Washington State. We blend more with this, it broadens the palate and the nose on the wine, and allows us to experiment with some of the rarer varietals that have only recently been vinified in a significant way in the appellation.

nallie

Casey7Hills wrote:The primary motivation is show the personality of one site with the Klipsun, a great Cab site on Red Mountain. We committed to making a vineyard-designated wine from Klipsun in the early 90's, and have a great set vertical vintages at this point. Its, ageable, powerful, and has a distinct character. And I use the French Oak 100% on this one because it needs that refined, elegant oak to help balance it.

The Columbia Valley Cab is blended from a handful of different vineyards, and really is a "regional" expression of Cab from Washington State. We blend more with this, it broadens the palate and the nose on the wine, and allows us to experiment with some of the rarer varietals that have only recently been vinified in a significant way in the appellation.

I really appreciate your quick participation in this discussion. My first inclination was to wait for lab rat reports, but your immediate involvement and the yield of your 2005 changed my mind. Seeing that I was limited to only one set upon ordering further suggests this will be a quick sell-out. Your involvement, then, speaks more of your love of the process than your love of marketing. We love that here. Thank you.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." - h.keller
"If you can do something about it, there is no need to worry. If you cannot do anything about it, there is no use in worrying." - j.white (and also Shantideva)

gcdyersb

Casey7Hills wrote:The primary motivation is show the personality of one site with the Klipsun, a great Cab site on Red Mountain. We committed to making a vineyard-designated wine from Klipsun in the early 90's, and have a great set vertical vintages at this point. Its, ageable, powerful, and has a distinct character. And I use the French Oak 100% on this one because it needs that refined, elegant oak to help balance it.

The Columbia Valley Cab is blended from a handful of different vineyards, and really is a "regional" expression of Cab from Washington State. We blend more with this, it broadens the palate and the nose on the wine, and allows us to experiment with some of the rarer varietals that have only recently been vinified in a significant way in the appellation.

Thanks, this will be a tough offer to resist. I'm liking these Washington offers. Very compelling prices for what seem to be well-balanced, conscientiously made wines.

hld1970

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Hard to resist. Casey- thanks for your participation. I am looking forward to trying one now and cellaring the Klipsun for awhile. The only other Seven Hills wine I currently have is the '05 Red Ciel du Cheval. So these will be nice additions.

______________________________________________
"My only regret in life is that I didn't drink more wine." --Hemingway

Winedavid39

WhereAmI2 wrote:I turned 21 literally 20 minutes ago and wanted to buy this Wine, but I cannot select my state for a shipping address, which is Wisconsin. The main FAQ says Wisconsin is a valid state. Does anyone have documentation that I missed or was I just blind when I was trying to select Wisconsin for shipping?

Happy Birthday. This is one of those rare occasions where Wisconsin is not on the winery state list. i'll double check, but if i remember correctly (will research more tomorrow) Wisconsin and Washington don't have the same relationship as does CA and WI.

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